Saturday, May 01, 2010

A remarkable day.

In many ways, today has just been an ordinary Saturday.
We went into Cardiff to have a wander round the shops.
Nothing unusual so far.
We were there from about 11.30-4.30, pausing briefly for lunch
somewhere in the middle.
So far, so normal.
But for us, today was as far from 'normal' as we'd ever dared to
imagine.
Charlie didn't walk around the shops.
He hopped, skipped, jumped and ran around the shops.
He didn't stop the whole time we were out.
Not blue, not breathless and not a buggy in sight!
We thought we'd leave his buggy in the car and just go for a little
wander until he was ready to stop.
Well - we didn't get to that point. He was still running and jumping
over the coloured paving slabs on the way back to the car, five hours
later.
Admittedly, Charlie still needs to polish his running style - he's
pretty gangly with his arms flailing everywhere... But then again,
most kids learn to run properly when they're about two - Charlie's
six, and he's never done much running, other than essential short
bursts to get from A to B.
But flailing arms notwithstanding, Pete and I stood back today and
watched our boy go (... and go, and go...) with pride, disbelief and
happy tears in our eyes. (or maybe that last one was just me?)
It is beyond wonderful to see Charlie running and relishing every
minute as the lively, energetic boy he was born to be.
We are LOVING this new normal.

Sent from my iPhone

1 comment:

Heather said...

oh, that is absolutely wonderful!! i love those "normal" days! i'm so glad you got to enjoy a day like that... obviously there aren't many with HLHS kids, so i totally understand the happy tears... i had a few for you when i read this! enjoy your new normal... because that's what that is, you know... real, actual, honest-to-goodness NORMAL! you've earned it! lots of love from way the heck over here... heather <3